bierkergaard

In my many years of reading devotional books, my favorites type is when the writer(s) use biblical characters' traits and decisions to illustrate a spiritual principle. It can be a positive thing or negative. We can learn from both. And the Bible does portray its characters flaws and all. Which seems to run counter to the hypothesis that the Scriptures are heavily edited by the powerful to control the minds of the masses. It would seem very odd to show the weaknesses, failings, and awful consequences of bad decisions by its heroes. Too many stones laying around to shatter the image of honor.  Why not just write inspiring hagiography and leave out the less than stellar material? Of course, the Bible also shows the positive end of the spectrum. In other words, the Bible has the ring of authenticity.    When considering anger since a couple of nights ago, I recalled the verses in Numbers where Moses is told by God to speak to the Rock to have it bring forth water in ...

Anger is like a fire. Great care must be taken to keep it contained from becoming a conflagration, consuming the world.  Last night, in my hotel room down in Davis, West Virginia, I was watching CNN. It wasn't the 24-7 News Cycle programming but instead the CNN channel was showing documentaries. The first was of how the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong, didn't fight by the war that we wanted to fight. Instead, they would attack and run, often hiding in elaborately dug tunnels underground. The U.S., when it had the opportunity to see the enemy and engage, inflicted heavy losses, like during the Tet Offensive. The U.S. military leaders were driven mad, and I am sure as were the ordinary U.S. soldiers, by the "now you see them, now you don't strategy." Never sure when an attack would come, then it would. And the attackers would disappear into the jungle. You can't usually hit what you cannot see, which explains why the U.S. military dropped so many bombs a...

“ I would only believe in a god who could dance.”   ―  Friedrich Nietzsche,  Thus Spoke Zarathustra Last Tuesday, I ordered online a 165 Gram Wham-o  Frisbee. I had a couple when I was a teenager. One time I lent my 165 Gram Ultimate Frisbee to a kid at school and he lost it. The 165 Grammer really soars with good control. Designed for the game of Ultimate, it is the gold standard on the market and has been for decades.    I told the kid that either he needed to pay for it or trade something of equal value. Or else. I left it up to his imagination of what that could be. He gave me in exchange the Essential Jimi Hendrix Part II album on cassette tape. It was a deeper collection of his music beyond the more popular songs of his that I already knew. It was the beginning of a lifelong affection of his music. So, a good trade. And Craig W. lived to see another day.   The Frisbee for me is possibly, like Citizen Kane's sled Rosebud, an ar...

My current novel  For the last several years, starting with Moby Dick , I have been reading novels on my iPhone Kindle app. Usually at night, a couple of pages or at least one sentence. My goal is read at least something of the novel daily with 95% compliance. There are days that I miss. But, I do put a reminder on my iPhone calendar to at least not forget. It is like the old adage of how to eat an elephant: One bite at a time. I have knocked out about ten classic novels in the last three years and have found a lot of enrichment by doing so. I was watching a talk on CSPAN2 BOOK TV yesterday, "television for serious readers,"  which is a tad ironic, where the speaker was getting into talking about George Washington's mom. History hasn't been kind to her apparently, but the speaker sought to rectify what she perceived to be the unfavorable light in which she has been cast, primarily by George Washington's letters referencing her, particularly in her petition...

One of My "Hot" Shirts Pennsylvania weather is in full Summer gear as of now. Hot with high humidity, this will be the norm for most of the days and nights until September mercifully comes. Last Summer with all of its rain was an anomaly. This Summer is sticking to the script with the weather. It's sticky alright. Pennsylvania, at least this part of South Central Pa, is 1/4 Summer, 1/4 Fall, 1/4 Winter, and one 1/4 Spring.  This may not be meteorologically precise but it seems correct in my reckoning. Each season has its Shakespearean time on the stage and the transition between Summer to Fall and Winter to Spring is particularly delightful. I have lived in Pa. since 1970 and am used to it. I have a relocated Colorado buddy who just can't stand the humidity. He looks like a Siberian Husky at the beach in the Summer. I have a buddy who lives in Buffalo which is like 9 months of awful Winter and 3 months of a lovely Summer. I am partial to the Fall. Summer ...

I have had a great summer thus far. The week before last I was camping high in the mountains of Southern Virginia where thankfully, there was no cell coverage. Being that I am pretty addicted to the phone like 90% of other Americans, getting to a place where cell phone coverage is not present seems to be the only way to escape the grip. My iPrecious... It is also the same reason I don't keep junk food in the house. If it is around, I will eat it. If I have my phone, I will tweet it. So, getting out away was a hard reset. Frankly, I can take about three days of tent camping. Then, I either go into feral mode and just don't give a rip and embrace the unrefined life of the outdoors, or I have to pack-up and roll out. I prefer the latter. Like Jonah being barfed out of the whale onto the shores of civilization.  With my buddy doing the driving, I had the opportunity to delve into the book above, he had it checked out of the library, and then continued doing so at the campsit...

It takes an ocean not to...break.   I had not attended a concert down at the Mann Music Center for over 30 years. Located in Fairmont Park down in Philadelphia. it is a premiere outdoors concert venue. The night was stellar. My brother had asked me months ago if I wanted to see The National show. He digs the band. How much? He was willing to shell out major dollars for front row center tickets. I had the best seat in the house. And since I am so tall, I stayed seated and took in the show. Usually I am blocking peoples' way if I am further back because I have to stand to see which causes people behind me to have their view blocked. It is like a dead zone behind me for rows.  It was a really great performance. The highlight was when the lead singer took my iPhone and videoed himself and the other band members on the stage, including a prolonged drum solo. The footage lasts over two minutes. It was very generous of the lead singer to do so. I did nothing to deserv...